Man admits two killings, failed murder plot

Published 6:55 pm, Thursday, May 26, 2011

An East Side tattoo artist was ordered Thursday to served two consecutive life sentences after pleading guilty to a double murder and admitting to a murder-for-hire plot in which, from his jail cell, he tried to rub out his former lawyer and the key witness against him.

Juan “Joker” Gomez, 27, was arrested in December 2008 for the slayings of Steven Bustamante, 23, and Juan Marcelo Alvarez, 28, during an alleged cocaine deal at Alamo City Tattoos. Their bodies were found dumped side by side in the street of a Northeast Side neighborhood that was still under construction.

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As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Gomez pleaded guilty to two murder charges instead of a single capital murder charge that carried the possibility of the death penalty.

He also agreed to two life terms, but defense attorneys Michael Gross and Mario Del Prado asked state District Judge Lori Valenzuela to let the terms run at the same time, which would have allowed him to be eligible for parole in 30 years.

The judge denied the request because of Gomez's behavior before and after his arrest. With the stacked sentences, he'll have to serve at least 60 years before he can apply for parole.

Gross described the slaying Thursday as “a Mexican Mafia-type drug deal gone bad,” pointing to his client's claims that he had been spooked by a “green light” — a Mexican Mafia hit — placed on him.

But the victims, who were unarmed and called to the tattoo parlor by the defendant, had nothing to do with the gang, prosecutors Samantha DiMaio and Mary Green said. Family members of both men, who confronted Gomez with victim impact statements, agreed.

“He was a good guy,” said Joe Bustamante, describing his son as a tile worker and loving father to four children.

Gomez had previously admitted to police that he shot the men and had let an eye witness go because she “was at the wrong place at the wrong time.” But he appeared to have a change of heart later, soliciting her murder from an undercover officer who he thought was a hit man.

“If I gottta stay here till my court is over then so be it,” he wrote in one jailhouse letter, adding, “as long as the star disappears, if you know what I mean.”

Gomez also appeared to be under the impression that his attorney at the time, Kirk Sherman, had cheated him out of a drug stash. He asked the undercover officer to shake Sherman down, “make him feel safe then take him.”

Sherman said Thursday evening he was relieved the case is over.

“It was the strangest damned thing,” he said, adding that there's no truth to the allegations his client made against him. “It came to me as quite a surprise.”

As part of his agreement with prosecutors, Gomez pleaded “true” to the solicitation of murder charge. It was then dropped but taken into consideration as part of his sentence.

A capital murder charge is still pending against co-defendant Thomas “Barbeque” Thames, 42, who is accused by authorities of helping Gomez dispose of the bodies.